PlasticSynth is made to be picked up in seconds — there is no manual you need. But every instrument hides a few extra tricks, and the Studio can do a lot once you know where to look. Here is the whole thing.

Playing an instrument

Open any instrument from the collection and play it with your mouse, your touchscreen, or your computer keyboard. Here is the one-line version of each:

PS-10Keyboard — A synth-plus-real-piano voice, a rhythm box and one-key-play.

PS-20Ribbon — A continuous-pitch strip — no frets, no keys, just glide.

PS-16Drum grid — A six-voice, sixteen-step drum machine you paint by hand.

PS-ORBOrbit — Eight notes circle at different speeds and chime as they cross the line.

PS-CHDStrum — Pick a chord with one finger, swipe eight strings with another.

PS-GRNGrain — A granular sampler — freeze a moment of sound and stretch it into weather.

PS-SMPSnip — A pitched sampler — snip two seconds of anything and play it on a grid.

PS-SEQSequencer — Program a melody once in scale degrees, then play it through any voice — lead, FM, drawn wave, koto or mallets.

PS-BASBass — A 16-step bass line with slide and accent — switch between a squelchy 303 acid voice and a deep 808 sub.

PS-EUCEuclid — A euclidean rhythm box — spread the pulses, let the polymeter breathe.

PS-LIFBloom — A Game-of-Life sequencer — a colony of notes that evolves as it plays.

PS-ORGOrgan — A drawbar organ that comps a chord — with Leslie, percussion and drive.

Workshop modules

These focused companions remain playable on their own and as Studio tracks:

PS-AERTheremin — A webcam theremin you play with your hands in the air.

PS-PRGProgression — A chord-progression sequencer in roman numerals — the harmonic backbone.

PS-ARPCascade — A diatonic auto-arpeggiator — pick a chord, the arp supplies the motion.

PS-PADPad — A lush pad that swells and drifts through chords in your key.

PS-VOXVoice — A voice transformer — record a phrase, then pitch, robotise and warp it live.

Handy keys

Keyboard (PS-10): play with the A–K row; the black keys sit on W E · T Y U.
Ribbon (PS-20): slide with the mouse, or nudge pitch with the ← / → arrow keys.
Drum grid (PS-16): click and drag to paint steps; click a filled step again for an accent.
Orbit (PS-ORB): drag a planet around its ring to change when it chimes; click a ring to mute it.
Acid & the step instruments: tap the pitch grid to place notes, and toggle the SLIDE / ACCENT rows beneath for glides and louder hits.
Every instrument: the knobs turn by dragging up/down (or scroll-wheel, or arrow keys), and the little screen shows the live sound — tap wave / eq to switch between the waveform and the frequencies.

Don't want to start from a blank page?

Several tools will make something for you, and every result opens in the Studio to tweak:

The generator — pick a genre, or describe a mood in plain words, and get a whole in-key track.
Type-a-tune — type any words and hear them turn into a melody.
Projects & sound recipes — build a whole loop or shape one patch with listening notes and a checkpoint at every step.
Renditions — famous tunes with their stories, arrangement notes and a Studio copy to remix.
Listen & match — let it hear music playing near you and match its key and tempo.

The Studio, step by step

The Studio turns the collection into a band on one shared clock. A full groove takes about a minute to build:

Add a component. Open the Studio and add a Drum Grid for the beat. Each track slots into the rack like a hi-fi component.
Stack a few more. Add the PS-10 Keys for a bassline and an Orbit for bells. Every track you add shares the same tempo.
Press PLAY. The big round button starts the transport; everything is locked to the same clock and bar.
Set the KEY. The KEY window (a root note plus major / minor) keeps every instrument in tune — played notes snap to it, and orbits lock their cycle to the bars.
Roll the DICE. The ✨ DICE button rolls a fresh, coherent groove in the current key — a drum pattern, an orbit constellation and a generated bassline, all at once. Roll until you like it.
Or let it evolve itself. Turn on 🌱 AUTO and the studio keeps re-arranging the groove hands-free — dropping and bringing back layers and rolling fresh in-key patterns as it plays. Perfect for a groove you can just sit back and listen to.
Mix it. Every track has a volume knob and Mute / Solo buttons; the master knob and the twin VU meters live on the receiver panel up top.
Keep it. Export a WAV (rendered offline, full quality), a Standard MIDI file (the notes, for your own DAW), or press REC to capture a live take.

Recorded voices & live takes

The ribbon and theremin are performances rather than patterns, so in the studio they work as audio-take tracks: arm the track, play a phrase in time, and it records a short loop that repeats in sync with the rest of the band. The PS-VOX voice works the same way — record a phrase from your mic, then it loops in time and you can warp its pitch and character live. All of these are included when you export a WAV.

Play together — jam rooms

The PS-10 Keyboard, the PS-SMP Snip and the PS-20 Ribbon have a JAM control: type a room code (or leave it blank and one is rolled for you), press jam, and anyone who joins the same code plays with you live — your notes come out of their speaker, theirs out of yours. Rooms are cross-instrument (a keyboard and a sampler can share one) and list every player by name. Press invite to copy a link that drops a friend straight into the room, or start from the jam rooms page. Rooms are ephemeral: nothing is recorded or stored, notes just pass through.

Playing from hardware instead? The keyboards also take MIDI input — press Connect a MIDI keyboard on the device and your controller plays it, mod wheel and knobs included.

Tips

Start with drums, then add one melodic part at a time — it's easier to hear where each fits.
Stuck for ideas? Roll the DICE a few times and keep the parts you like, then mute the rest.
Use Solo to focus on one track while you dial in its part, then un-solo to hear it in the mix.
Export a MIDI file to carry your idea into a full DAW; export WAV to keep PlasticSynth's actual sound.

That's everything. New to words like “key” or “cutoff”? The plain-English Basics guide explains them. The about page covers what PlasticSynth is, the changelog lists what's new, and if you hit a snag or have an idea, get in touch.